USC football nets big commitments

By PHIL KORNBLUT
Special to the Item

A big week of commitments for the University of South Carolina football team culminated on Sunday with a pledge from offensive lineman Ronald Patrick (6 feet, 1 inches, 268 pounds) of Cocoa, Fla. Patrick became the fourth commitment of the week for the Gamecocks and increased their total for the 2010 class to nine.

“I called (USC OL) Coach (Eric) Wolford and told him I'm ready to be a Gamecock,” Patrick said. “He said, ‘Great.' He was very excited.”

Patrick was in camp at USC early last week and was offered at about mid-week. He also has offers from East Carolina, Middle Tennessee, New Mexico and Western Kentucky. Patrick plays guard and center.

The Gamecocks also landed one of the state's elite last week with a commitment from highly recruited OL AJ Cann (6-3, 265) of Bamberg-Ehrhardt High School. Cann was a prospect the Gamecocks targeted after his sophomore season, and the fact they were the first to offer him was a major factor in his decision. Cann chose USC over Clemson and North Carolina. He has a total of 35 offers.

The Gamecocks also gained commitments from two prospects not as heavily recruited as Cann in quarterback Dylan Thompson (6-3, 210) of Boiling Springs High and defensive lineman JT Surratt (6-3, 287) of Winston-Salem, N.C. Both were in USC camps and impressed their respective position coaches enough to warrant offers. Thompson, who also has an offer from Furman, played in seven games last season and completed 66 percent of his passes for 1,200 yards and 13 touchdowns. Surratt also holds offers from Wake Forest, Marshall, Louisville and ECU. Last season, he had 107 tackles with 28 quarterback sacks and 22 tackles for loss.

Clemson also made noise on Sunday with a commitment from OL Reid Webster (6-4, 265) of Woodstock, Ga. Webster attended one of Clemson's camps earlier this month. “It just felt like the place to be when I was up there,” Webster told CUTigers.com. “It felt like where I should be and Father's Day felt like a good day to do it.” Webster picked Clemson over offers from Miami, Florida State, Wake Forest and several others. He is Clemson's seventh commitment for the ‘10 class and the first offensive lineman.

A player passed over by Clemson and USC, Spartanburg High QB Cornelius Jones (6-2, 185), committed last week to Michigan while at camp. “He looked instate first and he didn't receive an offer, so he moved on,” said Spartanburg head coach Freddie Brown. “He's a great player and good kid. He'll start out as a quarterback. I think it's a great decision.” Jones also has offers from Duke, Wake Forest and Stanford. Last season, he had 1,756 total yards, including 1,100 passing yards.

USC is hoping for a commitment from Boiling Springs OL Logan Stewart (6-5, 278), who picked up an offer from the Gamecocks after camp earlier this month. He was back at USC for a visit early last week and talked again with recruiter Brad Lawing and Wolford. “They told me that they like me and want me to commit if that's what I want to do,” Stewart said.

Stewart was at Vanderbilt over the weekend and picked up an offer from the Commodores. “I've got a lot of thinking to do about my decision,” Stewart said. “It's tough, a lot of plusses and minuses. A lot to choose from. They're different styles of programs.” Stewart said he's basically down to the Gamecocks and Commodores with no favorite.

The Gamecocks are in strong position for a commitment from OL Corey Robinson (6-7, 290) of Havelock, N.C. “If nothing changes, it will be them,” Robinson said last week, adding that if he got offers from the North Carolina schools, he'd have to think about that. USC is his only offer so far. He's also hearing from UNC, North Carolina State, Duke and ECU. Chester High OL Kalon Davis (6-5, 335) plans to make a decision in July after he finishes visiting schools. He's been to camps at Wake Forest and Clemson. The Tigers are on him the hardest and have the upper hand at this point. “They've been recruiting me real hard and I can tell they want me to be a part of their program,” Davis said. “But I have a lot of interest in Wake Forest.” Davis has offers from Clemson, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, N.C. State, Mississippi State, South Florida, Wisconsin, Penn State, Kentucky and ECU. He's also interested in Alabama and Louisiana State University.

Wide receiver Nick Jones (5-10, 165) of Byrnes High in Duncan still favors USC over offers from Michigan, Georgia Southern and Northern Illinois. He's also getting interest from Penn State, Auburn and UNC. He is scheduled to visit Penn State this weekend with teammate running back Marcus Lattimore. FSU commitment OL Ed Christian Jr. (6-5, 290) of Valdosta, Ga., will take visits to Clemson and USC, according to his father. He also has offers from FSU, ECU, Tennessee and Florida International.

Clemson defensive line coach Dan Brooks has been in contact with DL Darius Kilgo (6-4, 305) of Charlotte, but has not yet offered. Kilgo has offers from USC, Illinois, Tennessee, Maryland, ECU, Minnesota and Michigan State. He attended USC's linemen camp earlier this month and continues to hear from recruiter Jay Graham.

Defensive back Jakar Hamilton (6-2, 190) of Georgia Military Junior College and Strom Thurmond High of Johnston plans to announce a college choice on July 11. He continues to favor Georgia and Alabama and recently visited both. USC also has been involved.

Tight end Kevin Haplea (6-4, 241) of Allandale, N.J., stopped by Clemson late last week while on a tour of several Southern schools. He also visited Miami, Florida, FSU, Duke and UNC. Haplea was at West Virginia over the weekend and he was scheduled to visit Pittsburgh on Monday and Tuesday. Later this week, he plans to cut his list to three.

USC stands to make the cut this week with OL/defensive end Henry Anderson (6-6, 245) of College Park, Ga., when he trims his list to a final 10. He says Clemson is a strong possibility to make it as well. USC was his first Southeastern Conference offer and that has stuck with him. Anderson said Clemson is recruiting him harder than anyone. Some of his other offers are FSU, Alabama, Maryland, Oklahoma, South Florida, Wake Forest, Purdue, Wisconsin, Oregon, Vanderbilt, Michigan and West Virginia. USC and Vandy are the only schools recruiting him for offense.

OL Shane Johnson (6-4, 295) of Hyattsville, Md., has a USC offer and plans to visit soon. He was at Rutgers over the weekend and also has visited Virginia. He also has offers from California, Akron, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Duke, New Mexico, Maryland, Delaware, Boston College, Wake Forest, Pittsburgh and Syracuse. Johnson plays guard. Clemson and USC are showing interest in DE Justin Taylor (6-4, 220) of Norwood, N.C., who has played just one season of football. His coach says Taylor has offers from UNC, N.C. State, ECU, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisville, Auburn and Virginia.

USC won't sign a kicker for the ‘10 class, but will welcome walk-ons. The Gamecocks have shown some interest in Carey Spear (5-11, 175) of Highland Heights, Ohio. He is also hearing from Ohio State, Stanford, Cincinnati, Michigan State, Indiana, Purdue, Tennessee and Duke. Last season, Spear was 14 of 19 on field goals with a long of 50 yards.

DL Brandon Willis (6-4, 250) of Byrnes camped late last week at UNC with teammates DE Corey Miller and Lattimore. This week Willis plans to announce a final five. USC and Clemson will not be on the list because Willis plans to leave the state for college. Some of his offers are FSU, Texas A&M, Georgia, Tennessee, LSU, Florida, Wisconsin, UCLA, Notre Dame, Michigan and Alabama. Clemson is showing interest in OL Jacob McQueen (6-4, 254) of South Pointe High in Rock Hill as a center. He was at one of Clemson's camp and apparently impressed line coach Brad Scott. McQueen also has drawn some interest from USC, Virginia Tennessee, The Citadel, Charleston Southern, Wofford, Presbyterian and Gardner-Webb.

Irmo High RB Mustafa Green (6-1, 200) plans to visit Florida and Alabama this summer. He has visited USC and Clemson and remains interested in both. He also has offers from Notre Dame, Oregon, West Virginia, UNC, Louisville and Rutgers. WR Ivan McCartney (6-3, 180) of Miramar, Fla., has had contact from USC, but no offer at this point. He has offers from Miami, Florida, FSU, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, UNC, Oregon, Minnesota, Purdue, West Virginia, Pitt and others. Last season, McCartney caught 21 passes for 648 yards and 12 touchdowns.

USC has been in touch with DB Lakevious Battle (6-0, 175) of Tarboro, N.C., and he plans to come in for a visit. He is also hearing from Duke, N.C. State and ECU. He has not been offered. Last season, the cornerback had 55 tackles and six interceptions. RB Joe Morgan (5-9, 175) of Lower Richland High in Hopkins was offered by Georgia Southern over the weekend after attending camp. Morgan rushed for 839 yards and eight touchdowns. He's also getting interest from Liberty and Coastal Carolina. LR QB Cam Worthy (6-3, 200) also is getting interest from Georgia Southern.

Sumter High QB Stephen Curtis (6-3, 220) was offered last week by Liberty. He also has an offer from Furman. Curtis camped over the weekend at UNC and N.C. State. OL Brent Benedict (6-5, 280) of Jacksonville, Fla., who has Clemson and USC offers, committed last week to Georgia. Benedict is from Greer and is the brother of late Newberry College All American lineman Heath Benedict.

Clemson missed on RB DJ Howard (5-11, 195) of Lincoln, Ala., when he committed last week to Auburn. He had camped at Clemson and picked up an offer from the Tigers. The Tigers also came up short with athlete Kyle Baublitz (6-4, 250) of York, Pa., when he committed to Penn State. Two other prospects offered by USC and Clemson committed elsewhere last week — OL Morgan Bailey (6-5, 285) of Loganville, Ga., to Georgia Tech and DL Kyle Woestmann (6-4, 260) to Vanderbilt. At least three 2009 USC signees will not be academically eligible to enroll in August with their class — WR Charles Holmes, DE Duane Chisolm and DB Chris Payne. Another signee, WR Alshon Jeffery, is awaiting a test score to determine his eligibility. Also, RB signee Ben Axon remains on hold because of a marijuana possession charge pending against him.

Basketball News: The Clemson basketball team added to its nationally ranked class on Friday with a pledge from 6-8 Noel Johnson of Fayetteville, Ga. Johnson picked the Tigers over LSU. He also considered UNLV and Florida International after being released from his letter of intent with Southern California. Johnson will bring excellent scoring skills to the Tigers. He averaged 28 points, nine rebounds and five assists per game last season.

Will Yeguete, a 6-7 player from France and Melbourne, Fla., plans to visit USC in the fall, his head coach said last week. Yeguete plans to visit Florida before he goes home at the end of July. He has offers from Virginia Tech and Auburn. He's also getting interest from Alabama.

Baseball News: USC picked up a commitment for the ‘11 class on Friday from Austin Gambrell (6-2, 165) of Belton-Honea Path. Gambrell pitches and plays third base and first base. Last season, he batted .333 with three home runs and 27 runs batted in and he was 7-2 on the mound. He's the Gamecocks' fourth commitment for the ‘11 class.